The annual Black Studies keynote lecture will feature Dr. Vanessa K. Valdés, Editor of CENTRO Press. Dr. Valdés is a writer and scholar focusing on the literatures, visual arts, and histories of Black peoples throughout the Western hemisphere. 

A special part of the talk will feature the music of master drummer, Emmanueal Poku, accompanied by Fairfield University's Brian Torff, Professor of Music. Emmanuel Attah Poku is a prominent master drummer from the Ashanti Region of Ghana, West Africa.  Poku is currently based in Boston, Massachusetts, where he directs the Kiniwe African Music and Dance Ensemble at Tufts University and is the Artistic Director of the Agbekor Drum and Dance Society.